dvgrn

10 ms·

91.
by dvgrn 9y ago
The part above about "tape and constructor" is exactly right for the self-constructing Gemini spaceship and its descendants. But it's not quite right for the waterbear. There's no universal constructor in the waterbear
92.
by dvgrn 9y ago
That's basically right. Remove any one cell or any subgroup from the knightship, and it's no longer a working spaceship -- at least not one that moves the same speed! There are "optional extras" that can be added or rem
93.
by dvgrn 9y ago
The "elementary" vs. "engineered" distinction might be clearer with an example of an engineered spaceship, like one of the Corderships: http://conwaylife.com/wiki/13-engine_Cordership . Inside the
94.
by dvgrn 9y ago
Yes, there's a fairly simple proof, specific to the B3/S23 Life rule, not true for all similar CA rules. Unfortunately this comment box is too small to contain it... and the proof only applies to structures traveling through empt
95.
by dvgrn 9y ago
In B3/S23 Life, there just happened to be small c/4 diagonal, c/2 orthogonal, and c/7 orthogonal spaceships. The c/7 "loafer" ( http://conwaylife.com/wiki/Loafer ) was only found a
96.
by dvgrn 9y ago
Not a simple explanation, I don't think. The size of the smallest spaceship with a given speed and direction is an emergent consequence of iterative rules, so explaining "why" for a Life spaceship is like trying to explain t
97.
by dvgrn 9y ago
It's easy to stop one of these knightships -- an eater has been built already -- and just as easy to make a knightship detector. However, a gun to make new "Sir Robin"s is not likely to appear any time soon: there are const
98.
by dvgrn 9y ago
People have been looking for one of these for decades. Guess Moore's Law (and SAT solvers) have finally caught up to this problem!
99.
by dvgrn 11y ago
People have been trying to write good games based on Conway's Life for decades, but it seems as if most game mechanisms end up having too steep a learning curve -- mostly because the system is too sensitive, so one bit out of place ten